The decision not to retain Chris Gayle for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League was “based purely on business and cricketing reasoning”, the Jamaica Tallawahs franchise said on Wednesday.
Gayle, T20 cricket’s leading batsman, was not retained for the upcoming event, slated for August 19 to September 26, and was subsequently bought by the St. Lucia Zouks.
This week, the Jamaican left-hander, in a series of videos documented his departure from the Tallawahs, claiming that Assistant Coach and his former West Indies teammate Ramnaresh Sarwan had a part to play in him not being retained.
In part two of the three-part video series, Gayle launched a scathing attack on Sarwan, reserving some choice words for the former Guyana and West Indies captain.
The ownership and management of the Tallawahs said they were “disappointed” by the comments of Gayle, stating “we would much rather have had these discussions in private.”
“Mr. Gayle gave several reasons for the decision that was made not to retain him in the Tallawahs. However, the truth is that decision was made collectively by the Ownership and Management team which did not include Mr. Ramnaresh Sarwan and based purely on business and cricketing reasoning,” the Tallawahs said.
The Tallawahs also debunked claims that the decision may have been rooted in politics, as was insinuated by Gayle.
“Further, the Ownership and Management of the Tallawahs have no political affiliation with any political organisation in any country of the Caribbean.”
Tallawahs, two-time winners of the CPL, had a disappointing 2019 season, finishing at the bottom of the pile, winning just two of their 10 games. Gayle, who cracked a century in just the second game, had an otherwise lean tournament, finishing with 243 runs in 10 innings.
“The Tallawahs had a very disappointing season in CPL 2019 where the team finished last in the tournament. The Ownership and Management team has exercised its rights in the selection of players for CPL 2020 for the betterment of the team.”
“The Ownership and Management of the Tallawahs will not be making any further comments on this matter as we are focusing on building the team for the future.”
